It sounds like your by-laws are very clear on how to address the member. Assuming that she continues on her merry way even after writing the letter of apology and assuming that you want a Robert's Rules of Order solution, you'll appoint a committee to investigate the violations of by-laws. It should be made up of parents and (probably) one board member. The committee needs to review the by-laws for understanding and application to this situation and then interview this member and other members (such as yourself) that have first-hand knowledge of her behavior that is believed to be in violation. The committee will then present their report and recommendation to the board. The board has specific actions it must take during this board "trial" that can be found in the Robert's 10th edition. One of those actions is discussion of the report whereby the member may defend her actions. Then, a motion to dismiss with a second and a call for a vote will be in order. The member under investigation may vote.
Usually, when a member is faced with such public "humiliation" he/she chooses to resign ahead of time instead.
I have a woman on our PTO who I previously posted a nightmare story about. Since then, she had continued to defy specific instructions given to her by the president and the fundraising chair. She has violated three of the Standing Rules delineated in our By-Laws:
1. The ultimate goal of creating unity requires all plans, goals, ideas, and correspondence to be presented to the president and board members. Finalization of plans, will then be presented at board meetings for approval.
She has gone off on her own seeking business donations and made promises to donors that she has no authority to make. She did not make her plans, etc. know until after the fact.
2. All correspondence to teachers, member, staff or public must be approved by the president or vice-president if president is not available, and the school principal.
She went to the gym teacher and made arrangements to purchase medals for our fun run winners without notifying anyone. She also approached a local bank and asked them to sponsor the cost of the medals and told the bank manager he could be the one to present the medals. She did not notify anyone of these actions until after the fact. She also informed me today that she would be sending her own handwritten thank you notes to the sponsors she obtained and that she didn't care what I did. I specifically instructed her that she was not to refer to the school or the PTO in her correspondence. Who knows what she will do?
3. Problems resulting in the inability of a board member to adhere to their duties as defined in the bylaws and and standing rules shall necessitate board discussion and determination if chairperson replacement or assistant is needed to achieve duty completion.
She is the Historian and has spent more time interfering in the fundraising function than doing her job. She had been directed to cease her actions by the president and fundraising chair and has deliberately gone ahead and done what she wanted anyway.
According to our bylaws Article XI, Section 2, "Executive board members found in violation of these bylaws shall be disciplined quickly and fairly."
First violation makes the board member subject to probation and required to submit a written apology to the PTO board. This shall include an admission of guilt and list the violationthat occurred. This letter shall be read at the next executive board meeting and copies filed with the historian" (hee hee) "and the principal."
She needs to leave. Six other members of the board approached me and said that because of what she has done that they will never be on another PTO board again.
Has anyone ever "censured" or done anything like this?
